Sales Goal Setting

If you are involved with sales as your career, you will no doubt have a quota that your employer wants you to hit. This is your goal and at least part of your salary may be dependent upon achieving that goal. That can be a good incentive but it can also be a worry!

Sometimes we set our own goals and sometimes the company sets them for us. But whichever, if we are serious about out sales goal setting, we need to make a practical plan in some detail which shows how we will achieve these goals. So few sales reps actually think to do that. No wonder so few sales goals are met!

So let’s have a look at how you can have more success at meeting your sales goals. First, you have to plan effectively. Your sales goals should be SMART – specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timed. Failure to make a detailed plan that starts with these basics accounts for almost all failures to achieve sales goals.

Once you have SMART targets, you can start to break the sales goal down into smaller, bite-size objectives. That way, you can see what you need to do on a weekly or daily basis in order to achieve your sales goals.

So how do you start with this kind of sales goal setting?

First, ensure that you have a definite and clear objective. You may want to achieve, for example, $1,000 in new clients this year and $1,000 from repeat clients in a year. Once you have this goal in mind, you should break these goals down into what you need to achieve each month or each week. Count on closing only approximately a third of the leads you get. That would be about the average. Bear that in mind when you are working what you need to do short-term in order to set you on the path toward that annual sales goal.

You should find that suddenly your annual sales goals are not so frightening and are actually quite achievable. If they don’t seem realistic and achievable to you, you may have to modify your annual sales goals.

Once you know you have the right sales goals, it’s time to set about trying to achieve them. Make yourself daily objectives. Half the difficulty in achieving sales goals is in getting started, so once you have started, you’re on your way. Start today!

You should keep track of everything you do toward achieving your goals. Track all your meetings, and what sales you close on. That way, you can measure your success and modify your efforts as you need to. This measurement should soon suggest to ways in which you could improve your sales performance. You should take responsibility for these things that you need to change – and change them!

Set specific time aside each week or each when you will implement the specific actions you planned toward your goals. You can’t expect to improve your sales if you don’t put in the time and effort. Keep this implementation time sacred. Don’t get distracted by emails or phone calls; just do what you planned to do.

You always need to reinforce your sales goals, in order to keep your motivation going. Chart your progress toward your goals on a regular basis and take the time to notice and be proud of your achievements. Realize how this progress makes further sales goals possible, so re-assess your sales goals regularly too, so you achieve as much as you can and feel a sense of achievement along the way.